God “should not save the Queen”
It is in the name of the Queen that horrendous crimes have been committed and continue to be. As Jamaica orders the Queen to pay billions in slavery reparations committed during British imperial rule. God cannot save the Queen for every atrocity committed in her name by the British Empire. Reparation request involves Jamaica’s National Council of Reparation & its Cultural Minister and Jamaica’s Attorney General will be filing the petition. Between 1640 and 1807, about 70% of all Africans were transported as slaves to the Americas. When the Caribbean Reparations Commission has presented its case why is Asia lagging behind? God certainly cannot and should not save the Queen and instead should be morally held culpable for crimes against humanity spanning decades.
Doctrine of Discovery:
It was in 1493 that Pope Alexander VI issued a papal bull (decree) “Inter Caetera” authorizing Spain & Portugal to colonize the Americas & convert & enslave the natives. The Papal Bull were ‘directives from Almighty God’ and it was using this power that native lands were stolen & its people murdered. Ironically, the papal bulls have not been revoked and remain valid to this day. It does question modern western hegemony and invasions as a continuation of this decree.
Medieval Europe was controlled by Kings/Queens & Popes politically & spiritually.
A clear separation came in 1536 when England broke ties with the Roman Catholic Church via British Parliament Act ‘Extinguishing the Authority of the Bishop of Rome”. This Act was due to the Roman Catholic Church not sanctioning the marriage between Henry VIII and Catherine Aragon though the King later decided to marry Anne Boleyn. Henry VIII became supreme Head of the Church of England. In 1533 Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I was born. The rest of the history is a separate topic.
It was King Henry VII who commissioned John Cabot to lead a voyage in 1497 – five years after the Europeans claimed to have ‘discovered’ America though people were very much living in these lands.
It was during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I that slave-raiding began. Ironically, England’s first oversea colony was in the 16thcentury in Ireland after settling it with Protestants from England. It was also in the name of the Queen that Britain transported prisoners and convicts to all its colonies round the world most often as first settlers.
In the name of the Queen between 1815 and 1914 Britain’s Empire included 10million square miles (26million square km) & some 400million people. It was in the name of the Queen that Britain occupied all but 22 countries of the world.
It was in the name of the Queen that Britain declared itself Pax Britannica (policeman of the world)
It was also under Queen Elizabeth 1 that Humphrey Gilbert (Walter Raleighs half-brother) was granted a patent for ‘discovery & overseas exploration” in 1578. This was nothing but the Queen sanctioning ‘piracy’. Colonies were established in North America (1607 in Jamestown) and the Caribbean in the name of the Queen. Plantations & slave labour were also established in the name of the Queen. Fur trade was incorporated by royal charter in 1670 in the name of King Charles II.
In the name of the Queen by 1807, Britain had transported a third of all slaves across the Atlantic. In the name of the Queen 3.5million Africans were plucked out of their homes & dumped in America. In the name of the Queen Holy Wars were fought even among Europeans.
It was after the Battle of Plassey in 1757 that the British East India Company took control over Bengal. It was in the name of the Queen that the British fought the French for 7 years in India (1756-1763)
It was in the name of the Queen that the Thirteen Colonies in US and Britain fought over taxes resulting in US declaring independence in 1776 and American independence obtained in 1783 (Peace of Paris) It was in the name of the Queen that tensions escalated between Britain & S resulting in trade wars.
It was in the name of the Queen that Britain claimed Australia & New Zealand, declaring the indigenous Australians (Aborigines) & Maoris of New Zealand were too uncivilized to require treaties. In the name of the Queen, Britain took deliberate possession of land & culture and attempted to annihilate the natives.
It was in the name of the Queen that Britain made profits from Opium in China resulting in Opium Wars (how Britain seized Hong Kong)
It was in the name of the Queen that Britain dealt to suppress revolt against Britain in the colonies by people angered by the manner they were being treated in their own homelands.
It was in the name of Queen Victoria that the British Raj was established in 1858 and she ruled over the “Jewel in the Crown”. It was in the name of the Queen that millions of Indians saw their deaths from calculated famines. It was in the name of the Queen that the Amritsar Massacre took place. https://www.dw.com/en/the-jallianwala-massacre-when-british-troops-killed-hundreds-of-unarmed-indians/a-48313295
It was in the name of the Queen that artificial countries were created, artificial borders became the foundation of future wars and disputes.
It was in the name of the Queen that Britain took part in the Scramble for Africa dividing Africa between European nations to plunder.
It was in the name of the Queen that Britain acquired the Cape Colony in 1806 and kept the Boers (Afrikaners – descendants of the Dutch) in the world’s first concentration camps.
It was in the name of the Queen that Britain declared war with Germany.
It was in the name of the Queen that the 1917 Balfour Declaration resulted in a home for the Jewish people in Palestine. Similarly, it was in the name of the Queen that an Islamic state (Pakistan) was created out of ‘India’ which preaching ‘multiculturalism’.
It was also in the name of the Queen that national leaders that challenge imperial hegemony like Patrice Lumumba and Aung Sang were brutally assassinated. It was also in the name of the Queen that the British funded/armed/trained various insurgents/rebels and even terrorists.
It was in the name of the Queen that British troops were sent to recapture Falkland Islands from Argentina in 1982.
It is in the name of the Queen that Britain continues to keep troops in 42 countries (145 overseas military bases) It is also in the name of the Queen that Britain retains sovereignty over 14 territories still.
It is in the name of the Queen a British joins police service. ‘I will well & truly serve the Queen in the office of constable’
It is in the name of the Queen that all judicial cases in UK are adjudicated “The Queen versus …” What if the Queen commits a crime – even if she does she cannot be questioned by policy or require to testify in a court!
Yes, it was in the name of the Queen that the Bloody Sunday Massacre in Ireland took place.
It was in the name of the Queen that the British Foreign Office in 2012 admitted to deliberately destroying thousands of records documenting atrocities committed by the Queens Army and that the remaining were being kept hidden from public/media.
https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-230767
It is in the name of the Queen that the British plundered and pilfered the wealth of natives from across the globe. The British Museum is home to stolen artifacts and cultural treasures from which the British continue to make money as a tourist attraction.
https://kottke.org/20/08/the-british-museum-is-full-of-stolen-artifacts
This is just a handful of crimes that have been committed by UK in the name of the Queen/King while singing “God Save the Queen/King”.
How can any God condone such acts committed over centuries with no acknowledge, apology or compensation?
Shenali D Waduge
